History of the Founding Clubs
NOTTINGHAM BOAT CLUB
Nottingham Boat Club was formed in 1894 by a group of rebels from the original Nottingham Rowing Club (founded in 1862) who insisted on rowing on Sundays, which was against club rules. Having refused to apologise to the committee for doing so, the group left to set up their own club, an event that was depicted in 1926 by local artist and club member Arthur Spooner. A copy of this painting hangs in the club house – see the Spooner picture article for more details about what happened to the original.
The early success of club crews was marked in 1897 when Queen Victoria visited Nottingham and a tray decorated with Boat Club trophies was taken through the streets. In the same year the boathouse was completed on its present site, so it pre-dates the City Ground by a year. Boat trips, either up to Clifton or down to Newark were a feature of the river in those early days.
In 1913 the boathouse and boats were partially destroyed by a fire started by suffragettes – club members attended their next meeting and subjected them to “embarassment and indignities”.
Many Boat Club members were killed in the Great War and their names are commemorated on a plaque on Trent Bridge. Representatives of the club still attend a short memorial service there on Remembrance Sunday each year, along with members of our sister club, Nottingham & Union Rowing Club.
In 1930 the club encouraged High Pavement School to begin rowing, and in 1946 Nottingham University Boat Club was set up at the club (it moved to its present site in 1951).
The 1950s were a difficult time for the club, but a young membership began to turn the tide. ‘Jazz at the Society Bank’ began on 20th October 1962, and money soon surged into the club, membership increased, the whole fleet was replaced, and in 1970 the boathouse extension was completed to house the eights and new changing and shower facilities. During the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s most of the popular blues, rock and heavy metal bands played at ‘the Bank’.
By the 1980s the Boat Club was one of the strongest clubs in the country and was producing a steady stream of World Champion and Henley medallists. At Henley Royal Regatta the club won the Diamond Sculls in 1979 and the Wyfold Fours in 1980 and 1982. At Henley Women’s Regatta, Nottingham Boat Club won the Open Coxed Fours in 1992.
1994 saw the club’s Centenary celebrations take place. An eight and a four were purchased and the club had a very successful season on the water.
The club continued to grow its membership and fleet and improve its facilities through the late 1990s and into the 2000s. It also invested in the future of the club by subsidising members on coaching courses to build a large group of coaches, running a sculling school, bringing novices on and raising standards at all levels. The club was given recognition of the standards it had met when it was awarded Clubmark accreditation from Sport England.
In the early 21st century, the club was the biggest club in Nottingham but had restricted space. For the club to continue to grow it asked the other local clubs if they would consider a merger. The rest is history.
NOTTINGHAM BRITANNIA ROWING CLUB
The NBRC was formed in 1869, making it the second oldest rowing club in Nottingham (the oldest being the original Nottingham Rowing Club, which was established in 1862). The Club was founded as the result of a bet that was made between two members of the Nottingham Canoe Club that they could form a rowing club – it’s said that the bet was made in the long-lost Britannia Inn on Queens Road in Nottingham, from which the new club took its name.
The Club’s first boathouse was in a building that was leased from Mr. A. J. Witty, a Nottingham boat builder – this boathouse was actually on the Trent Bridge side of the River Leen. It was not until 1891 that its first boathouse was built on Meadow Lane, on a site that is now a wharf. At that time finances were difficult, so to assist the club in establishing a more stable financial position it took what was then an unprecedented step for a sporting organisation and formed a Limited Company, with capital made up of £1 shares that were held by its members.
By 1913 the acquisition of new premises had again become a matter of urgency and property belonging to Earl Bentinck was offered to the Club for £1500. As the Club would have had to find a great deal of additional money to equip the new building and also pay ground rent, they declined the offer. However the following year, amid a great deal of controversy at the Club, they built the present boathouse next to the Nottingham Forest Football Club at a cost of £1300.
Like all rowing clubs, over the years the members struggled to keep their heads above water financially. It was then in the 1960s that they began a venture that not only saved them financially but made them one of the richest clubs in the Midlands. This was the opening of a discotheque in their boathouse that opened four nights a week to social members who paid an annual subscription of (in old money) two shillings and sixpence – a fee that only entitled them to attend the discotheque. Social membership ballooned to 3500 members, and the Club was able to buy new boats and extend the boathouse.
In 1960 a Britannia pair coached by Cliff Booth was selected for the Rome Olympics; Cliff was a former President and Captain of the Club and one of its longstanding top coaches. Although the pair didn’t win a medal at the Games, it was a remarkable achievement and a great honour to represent GB. In 1980 Cliff was awarded the Amateur Rowing Association’s Centenary Medal for his contribution to the sport of rowing; he was also at the forefront of those responsible for siting the first multi-lane rowing course at Holme Pierrepont.
In 1969 the Britannia celebrated its centenary and to mark this occasion the club presented a trophy to Henley Royal Regatta. The Britannia Challenge Cup for club coxed fours is still competed for today.
In 2002 a Britannia eight won the Jackson Trophy at the Head Of The River Race as the fastest provincial crew. On receiving the trophy, which had originally been presented to the HORR by Nottingham Britannia, they saw that it was looking a bit worse for wear, so the committee and members agreed that they should replace it. A new solid silver trophy was therefore commissioned, worth several thousand pounds, which was presented in 2003 to Andrew Ruddle (the Secretary of the HORR) by Colin Pritchett, President of the Nottingham Britannia Rowing Club.
In June 2006 Nottingham Britannia merged with the Nottingham Boat Club to form the new Nottingham Rowing Club. The merger of these two great Trentside clubs made good financial and rowing sense, and proves that two into one will go.